''Ctenucha multifaria'' is a

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

of the family

Erebidae The Erebidae are a family of moths in the superfamily Noctuoidea. The family is among the largest families of moths by species count and contains a wide variety of well-known macromoth groups. The family includes the underwings ('' Catocala'') ...

. It was described by Francis Walker in 1854. It is found along the coast in the US states of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, north of the city of Santa Maria, and

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. This is a diurnal moth, meaning it is active during the day. Adult ''C. multifaria'' is similar to the brown-winged ctenucha of southern California, but with black wings instead of brown. The body is blue and in length. Head and shoulder markings are red. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is .BugGuide
/ref> Forewings are black with white margin. Larvae are hairy, and the eventual cocoon is formed by these hairs.

References

multifaria Moths described in 1854 {{Ctenuchina-stub